The LEGO Art line started back in 2020 with relatively simple mosaics featuring Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Iron Man, Sith Lords from Star Wars, Jim Lee’s Batman collection, Mickey Mouse, a World map, and more. Later, LEGO added more complex 3-D mosaics and artwork. Overall, LEGO Art is an eclectic collection of decorative pieces that continues evolving and surprising fans with interesting offerings.
One of the most ambitious sets under the LEGO Art banner is the #31213 LEGO Art Mona Lisa, featuring a LEGO version of the famous painting. I was pretty hesitant when I first saw this set as I felt that it was too oversimplified and cartoonish, but I started to appreciate it more when I better understood LEGO’s approach. The building instructions summarize this well in the following paragraph.
“Re-interpreting the most famous artwork in the world in LEGO form is a playful way to push the boundaries and find challenging new ways of using LEGO bricks as an artistic medium. A lot of research went into choosing the right format, colors, and shapes to make the final artwork stand out. The colors in the original painting have naturally faded and the lacquer has oxidized, giving the piece a faint yellow tone. As an homage to Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, this model imagines what the Mona Lisa might have looked like when it was freshly painted, in a vibrant composition of LEGO colors. Geometric and mathematical formulas were applied to the model to make sure the pose and features were faithfully represented. Designer to delight and spark curiosity and creativity, this model demonstrates how you can really take advantage of the visual impact of LEGO elements and create your own art.”
My takeaway from this is that LEGO designers strived to demonstrate deep appreciation and respect for Da Vinci’s majestic masterpiece while also remaining true to LEGO’s playful and colorful take on the world. The result is this 1,503-piece LEGO artwork with interesting and enjoyable building techniques wrapped in an intricate gold-colored frame.
Speaking of the frame, it is a separate piece that you build first according to the instructions. This frame gives you the artistic liberty to add it to the LEGO version of the Mona Lisa, replace it with your own frame, or even use the LEGO frame for your own original art (LEGO or otherwise) creation. In other words, even though the set is a recreation of a static painting, it still gives you options for customization. I found that pretty commendable.
Another customization you can do right out of the box is experimenting with a more abstract expression for the Mona Lisa; you can change her eyes with alternative, unprinted eye tiles that are included with the set. I don’t think many people will use this option as it’s a little jarring, but I can appreciate LEGO giving fans even more options for customization.
As far as the building experience, it actually mimics how the painting was originally created with layers of exquisite detail to achieve depth and perspective. In the LEGO version, you layer plates and tiles of various colors, adding more and more depth – sometimes almost completely covering over previous layers. This technique allows fine lines, curves, and subtle gradation of color in a relatively small footprint (the set measures over 17 in. high, 11.5 in. wide, and 1.5 in. deep). This technique also gives the experience to the builder that almost feels like drawing or painting.
The coloration of the set is quite attractive. The background with its subtle blues and tans remains muted yet distinct behind the shape of the main figure. Mona Lisa’s dress, especially the black sections, makes her stand out yet retains the aged colors of the original painting. I really like the vertical lines of her dark-gray dress. It’s a nice detail.
The shaping of the face and hands is debated in the LEGO fan community. Some LEGO fans feel it’s fine, while others feel it’s too cartoonish. At this scale, I don’t think it could have been done any better. I have seen some much more detailed Mona Lisa recreations in LEGO, but those mosaics were a lot larger. Recreating life-like paintings of people in LEGO is hard. LEGO designers could have done only her face like in the earlier LEGO Art mosaics, but then the rest of the famous painting would be missing.
In general, the LEGO medium is more suitable for abstract artwork, but overall, I think LEGO designers came to a reasonable compromise with this set, and even more importantly, they gave us another example to create and recreate artwork. In the video below, JANGBRiCKS will show you the set in more detail.
Although the #31213 LEGO Art Mona Lisa is not my favorite LEGO art piece, I can certainly appreciate the effort, and I think it’s worth giving it a try. It’s an interesting building experience, it comes with tons of useful pieces in nice colors, the frame is exquisite and versatile, you learn a lot of useful mosaic-building techniques, and you end up with an attractive display piece. And the $99.99 price tag is reasonable for what you get. If you want to take a look, the set is available at the LEGO Art section of the Online LEGO Shop.
Oh, and if you like the set, you might also want to check out the #5008976 LEGO Masterpiece Mona Lisa Puzzle. This is a traditional jigsaw puzzle depicting fun versions of one of the world’s most famous paintings. Measuring over 25 in. long and 20 in. wide, and with 1,000 colorful pieces and a full-color poster of the finished image, this jigsaw puzzle is an additional way to interact with the LEGO version of the painting and may give you further ideas to customize the set.
What do you think? How do you like the LEGO Art collection? Do you have a favorite from the series? And what do you think of the LEGO Art Mona Lisa set? Feel free to share your thoughts and own reviews in the comment section below!
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
- LEGO Mona Lisa and Notre-Dame Press-Release
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- LEGO Art World Map Mosaic Review
- Customizing the LEGO Art World Map Mosaic
- LEGO Art Hokusai – The Great Wave Mosaic Press-Release
- LEGO Art Elvis Presley & Batman Mosaics Overview
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- LEGO Art Mosaics Alternate Building Instructions
- LEGO Art World Map Mosaic Review
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- LEGO Mosaic Maker Now Available Online
